Church as a Missional Community Pt. 2

In a recent post I introduced a series in which I was going to be addressing church as a missional community. This picture of what church should look like is in stark contrast to what is regularly seen today. I want to be clear that my intent is not to point out flaws for the sake of tearing down, but to draw attention to the specifics of the disconnect that we all already know exists between the churches we see in the Bible and the church we see today. God’s purpose in the church is His glory and greater joy, and that’s exactly where I pray this post leads us.

I want to address the ‘community’ part of the equation in this second post of the series. I find it interesting that in the Gospel of John our Savior says our love for one another will be how men know we are His. It is not our morality, religious performance, or the radio station we listen to that sets us apart but our love for one another.

Anybody can tweak the outward performance or the radio station dial but love is a heart issue. True love that we see exemplified in Christ is purely supernatural and can only be found in the church.

Many of you likely disagree with this statement initially so let me explain why it must be true. Churches are made up of diverse people with various backgrounds and walks of life. Some people are bubbly while others are reserved. To be frank, some people never shut up and other seem like they are in some sort of comatose state. Some people have a lot in common with us while others are just plain weird.

So sure, an unsaved guy can love his wife unconditionally with all his heart. However, I guarantee you that he cannot love the weirdoes and big mouths that make up church. It just isn’t natural or even possible without spiritual rebirth. Love rooted in the gospel “bears all things” including the people that, naturally, we wouldn’t even like.

We must continually check ourselves on this matter and not take it lightly. Your church attendance does not point the lost to Christ, but your love for your brothers in Christ will. This is a big deal.

If we are living life from a gospel-centered perspective then we realize that we have no valid excuse to not display love towards any one of our brothers. No matter how many times you have felt disrespected or wronged it does not even come close to how you and I have treated Christ. Think of all the rebellion and disregard we have shown Him, yet His love is absolutely unconditional. This is the love that must be on display within our churches.

I’m not just talking about smiling and shaking hands on Sunday morning while trading the typical pleasantries. Our love needs to run deeper. There must be a real concern for the spiritual state of each of our brothers and sisters and a desire to see growth within the body of Christ.

In the book of Acts we see raw, gospel community taking place for the first time in the post-Gospels era. The church is adding converts and making disciples daily. Almost everybody is completely new to this church thing, yet we see the most beautiful picture of community in some of the books earliest chapters. At the end of chapter two we find believers meeting together to discuss Scripture, socialize, eat, and pray.

This is one of the reasons I love the small group format. It encourages biblical, gospel community like we see in Acts 2. Small groups, however, is only the beginning. It is merely a catalyst that is intended to create a shift in the right direction.

The best part about all of this is found in vs. 44, where it says that they were all together and had all things in common. This does not mean they were all sports junkies or coffee addicts who had something to talk about when conversation started to drift to the awkward silence stage. It runs much deeper than that.

The church we find in Acts was diverse. We know this because there were people who spoke entirely different languages yet miraculously heard the gospel in their own tongue when it was preached by the apostles at Pentecost! It was the supernatural glue of the gospel that brought them together and gave them “all things in common.”

If you have been born again then you have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. In that same act of reconciliation we have been reconciled to each other, adopted to the same Father as brothers and sisters in Christ!

Make an effort to see biblical community take place in your church. Display the unconditional love of Christ among your new brothers and sisters. Invite a family over for dinner and take the opportunity to share your testimony. You will be amazed at how God will use something so simple for His glory and to the benefit of the Church he died to save.

The Battle in New Orleans

I am aware that my ‘audience’ is a small one and that you are probably not the least bit aware or interested in what is going in in New Orleans this week. Okay now you’re at least intrigued, right? Drumroll, please. The Southern Baptist Convention.

Now that the cricket effect has worn off let me tell why this is such a big deal. Two events are going to take place that have historical implications.

This one brings a smile to my face. For the first time in history an African-American is going to be elected president of the SBC. It gives us a chance to look back and see how far the SBC has come over the last 160 years. The convention has a history of racism that lasted through the civil rights era when many SBC pastors rejected the idea of integration, while others remained silent. What is about to happen any minute in New Orleans deserves celebration and reflection.

Now for historical event number two. This is not a first for history nor does it earn two thumbs up. In fact, it has repeated itself throughout history, and in my opinion, is starting to get really old. The conflict in the SBC between those who hold differing views on election has peaked. To be honest, it is embarrassing.

The whole Calvinism/Armenian war has gone on for centuries. Yes, it is a war. I wish it were merely a theological debate that was limited to Bible college dorm rooms and friends who share a love for each other and their Savior.  Of course, it is inevitable that the evangelical blogosphere is full of theologians who think they can solve hundreds of years of disagreement with a five paragraph comment on every blog post that mentions the subject.

Unfortunately, we cannot ban every idiot from the internet. That being said, I would be okay if the evangelical blogosphere was as far as the war went. Sadly, it is not. This week the battlefield is New Orleans. The SBC is in the national spotlight due to the historic election, and yet we’re going to allow this age old argument turn into a war and steal the show.

In John 13:35 Jesus Christ himself say that it is our love for each other that lets people know we are His. So while the world is watching, instead of displaying Christ-like love for each other, we’re going to go to battle. Many will be beating the drums of war instead of waving the banner of the cross and celebrating the racial reconciliation that God has provided.

Congratulations to Ed Luter Jr. on being elected president of the SBC

When will we ever learn to stop attempting to elevate our theological preferences above the preeminence of Christ? I don’t have a beef with either position. I do however have a problem when the arguments of men threaten to steal the show from the risen Lamb of God.

So get over yourself. Stop being so militant, stop crying heresy, and exhibit the love that distinguishes us from the world. Enjoy the fellowship of your brothers in Christ, celebrate this historic event for the Convention, and recharge so you can go home and feed your people.

The Big Picture

Sometimes, I just don’t get it. I completely miss the big picture. It isn’t that I have never seen it but rather that I have a tendency to let my attention drift. In fact, I’m learning that I actually have to make a conscious effort to keep this big picture in sight or it will slowly move into my peripheral and before I know it I’m wondering where I lost it.

            Ultimately, the big picture is the gospel. A simple (yet in no way small) explanation of what I mean by the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. This good news tell us that the Son of God became a man, took upon himself the sins of the world and absorbed the punishment for those sins on the cross. Three days later he rose from the dead, defeating death and sin, and now awaits the day when he will return for his people and set up his kingdom. Through all of this he has provided not only the forgiveness for our sins, but also our adoption as sons and daughters of God! This is extremely good news!

            This gospel is the climax of all of human history and part of God’s theme of his glory through the reconciliation of all things to himself. Basically, God is fixing what we broke. Through the gospel he provided the reconciliation that broken humanity needed. God’s story of redemption is an impressive one.

            We are currently living in the chapter of this story that is often referred to as “The Church Age.” It is given this title based off a very big and important idea. This idea is that the church (that’s you and me) has been given the ministry of reconciliation (II Cor. 5:16-21), the task of representing the God of the universe and pointing people to His Son.

            God’s story does not lack plot twists, for sure. He not only dies for the villains and adopts them as His own children, but then proceeds to commission them to carry out the most important and necessary task in all of history. This is truly mind-blowing!

            In spite of all of this, our churches are filled with people whose attendance to Sunday morning worship is spotty at best, avoid getting involved in a small group, and haven’t talked to an unbeliever about Jesus in years.

            Do we as the church get the big picture or have we allowed it to drift into our peripheral and, eventually, out of sight?  Do we recognize the weight of the task that has been given to us? I’m not sure we do. Maybe this is why many of us view church as boring. We simply don’t get it.

            I want to “get it.” I want to see other believers “get it.” I’ll be posting a blog series on church as a missional community over the next couple of weeks. I want to include how we as God’s people relate to each other, culture and the importance of the mission we have been given. I hope the posts will be both challenging and overflowing with joy at the prospects of experiencing God in a greater way as His people.

Flat Tires, Dirty Shoes, and the Gospel

We don’t like it when our schedules are intruded upon by unexpected events. All of us have daily and weekly routines that we expect to progress through with unaltered rhythm and as long as that rhythm is present we are fine. Unavoidably, however, our days never seem to play out quite as smoothly as planned. Sometimes it’s a plethora of small, unforeseen events that leaves us feeling exasperated. Other times its one specific worry that you can’t seem to get off your mind. These are the moments in life that nobody is truly fond of. The quicker these troubles pass, the quicker we can get back to the beloved thing that we call “normal.”

Many times these troubles in life are inevitable. There is absolutely nothing we can do to see them coming, much less, prevent them from happening. Though we usually can’t eliminate their presence, we can change the way they affect us. So often, we allow tiny problems to give us a negative attitude or even ruin our day entirely. As believers, this should never be the case.

The remedy to this spiritual deficiency is a gospel-centered perspective. When we are our usual narcissistic selves we view trials as unfair and undeserved. Instead of viewing these problems as random unfortunate events or even divine trials we need to see them as opportunities to radiate the gospel and bring glory to God. This is not a perspective you can achieve by simply reading an occasional article or listening to a motivational sermon once a week. It can only be produced by soaking in the gospel on a daily basis. I’m not talking about the power of positive thinking. I’m talking about the power of gospel-centered perspective that comes from consistently dwelling on the work of Jesus Christ.

This morning one of those dreaded wrenches got thrown into my schedule. The front left tire on my vehicle went flat and I had the pleasure of changing said tire in the freezing cold while wearing the shorts that I just had worked out in. If that wasn’t enough, my brand new pair of Nike’s was now covered in dirt and grease from rolling the tire right over my feet. Why?!

On many days I would probably be boiling over with frustration when met with such circumstances. I’m thankful, however, that this time it was different. Earlier in the week I began a study in Philippians and had already engaged in that study earlier in the morning. Paul’s attitude towards his imprisonment was more beautiful an example of a gospel-centered perspective that I could imagine. He was overjoyed because of the advancement of the gospel that took place because of his trial. Absolutely nothing that happened to Paul altered his “to live is Christ, to die is gain” attitude. I was able to spend my early morning meditating on the gospel through the Word of God and music that directed my attention to the work of Jesus Christ and it radically altered my attitude and perspective.

In light of the gospel, flat tires and dirty shoes are not only not worthy of our self-pity, but are opportunities to bring glory to God and point people to his gospel. The believer who looks at life through the lens of the gospel will experience the changed perspective and attitude readjustment that so many of us need. This new perspective does more than merely make us thankful for the fact that we even have a vehicle and shoes at all. It makes Him the object of our affection and drives us to carry out the very mission that He created us for.